He Listens
by Puck100
Summary: Natsu is struggling with a secret that has been bothering him since the Games. He goes on a mission with Gray and the secret comes out. How will Gray handle it?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first story. I hope you like it.

 **Natsus POV**

Natsu actually listens when people talk to him. And people talk to him a lot. They think he isn't listening to them, so they tell him the most outrageous things. They tell him their darkest secrets, their worst fears, their greatest hopes. All because he looks oblivious. All because he is really good at keeping his expression neutral. He doesn't say anything. He wouldn't dare. That would be the worst breach of trust he could think of. Nope. He just sits there with a blank expression while listening to them talk.

Even Gray tells him stuff. Long before they could even acknowledge each other as friends. He had told him about Ur, his village being destroyed, and his parents dying. All while they were on a mission and they had to tolerate each others presents. He had been staring off into space, when, all of the sudden, Gray started to talk. Natsu almost jumped out of his skin when he did. But years of experience in listening had saved him. He was shocked to say the least. Gray, of all people, was telling him his past. He never spoke about it with anyone. Even Happy doesn't know that he listens.

Apparently, someone in the guild had told everyone that Natsu was a good person to talk to (not with) about something that was bothering you.

Whenever something's bothering someone, they will wait until he is "not paying attention" and tell him what is going on.

He honestly didn't know how to feel about this. I mean, they would tell him stuff, but they weren't actually telling _him_. Some of the stuff they said made him sad that they didn't trust him enough to tell him to his face. Some of it made him angry that something like that could happen to his family. He wanted to do something about it, but he couldn't. Because he wasn't supposed to know. It is hard not to slip up, to accidentally hint that he is listening.

So, here he is, in the guild and being oblivious, as always. Not. No one says anything directly to him in the guild. It's always outside of the guild. But he has dragon slayer hearing. And a lot is said, between Mira playing matchmaker, Lucy and Levy gossiping, and Macao and Wakaba being perverted old men, there was a lot to here. The only good thing? He can actually talk about what he hears most of the time. It's not actually a secret. Not confidential. Geeze, now he sounds like and official counselor.

Lucy is talking to Levy about a new book, Mira is talking with Cana about who is cute with who, and Macao and Wakaba are talking about a pretty girl they saw earlier that is well over 20 years younger than them. Nothing new there. He is not actually looking for secrets to hear. He just loves listening to his family enjoy themselves. After the seven years on Tenrou Island, they all deserved to have a little happiness.

After the Grand Magic Games, everyone started to talk to him again. After all that time, they had a lot to get off their chests. Some of the things he heard almost made him cry. He was starting to get overwhelmed. All of this stuff was getting to him. He wanted to make it better. He wanted to tell them that they were back. He wasn't staring off into space as much. He couldn't deal with all of the stuff he was hearing. He needed some time alone.

He wanted to go on a mission, but all of the missions that were up didn't suit his magic or would take more than just him. He was going to ask his team but Lucy and Erza were having a girls get together. They couldn't go. He was getting desperate, everyone was telling him things that were too much to handle. He was ready to scream.

Then he decided. _To hell with it, I'll take a hard mission by myself._ It would give him a good opportunity to get his anger out. He chose a mission that wanted him to take out a huge monster that was terrorizing a village. He took the mission to Mira to approve.

"Are you sure you want to take this one by yourself? It is going to be dangerous." Mira told him with a concerned look on her face. " Why don't you take someone with you?"

That thought had him wanting to run out the door right then. It wasn't that he didn't want to work with anyone, he just knew that if someone tagged along, they would tell him more stuff that he couldn't handle.

"Nope, I'll be fin Mira. I've handled worse. It'll be nothing." It was true. I was sure I could handle this on my own. And I have handled worse. It will probably give me a run for my jewels but I could take it down.

"If you're sure. Just be careful." She responded hesitantly. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Me? Do something stupid? Would I do something like that?" He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Oh, shut up." She said with her pretty smile on her face.

He grinned back at her. He was happy to see her smile.

With the mission in hand, he left the guild to pack. As he was packing, he debated whether he should go back to the guild and say he was heading out. Just as he decided not to, he heard a knock at his door. Not many people know where he lives so he was too curious to be suspicious. If there was one person he was not expecting to show up at his door, it was Gray. He looked a little irritated, which was kind of normal for him.

"Gray?" he said, more than a little shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Mira sent me." He responded.

"Is everyone okay? Did something happen?" Natsu said, a little worried.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. Nothing happened. Mira got an update on that mission you took. Turns out there are two monsters that are attacking the village." He told him. "She wants me to come along."

Natsus first thought when Gray had said two monsters was _Sweet, more fun._ Now? Not so much. He had to do a quest with the stripper. They didn't even get along very well. Sure, they were better than in the past, but still. They still always got into arguments. And there was the other, more pressing issue, of the secrets he was having trouble with. What if Gray told him more stuff that he couldn't handle? What if Natsu had a mental breakdown in the middle of the mission? He was thinking that it was a serious possibility at the moment. He wouldn't get to let off steam if the exhibitionist. He would be trapped.

That's what he felt, he realized. Trapped. Caught in all of the secrets that people were telling him.

"Whatever. Are you packed?" Natsu said, with a frown. He couldn't say no to Gray coming along. It would make Mira worry and Erza would be ticked.

Gray looked a little surprised that he had agreed so quickly. "No, just give me fifteen minutes to go get my stuff." He said quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Grays POV**

Gray was a little concerned.

They had been walking for a while now. And Natsu was acting strange.

They had met by the road leading out of Magnolia about an hour ago. Natsu didn't want to take a train, so they were walking. Since this was Natsus mission, Gray let it go. The walking wasn't a bad thing anyway. It gave him time to figure out what was wrong with the flamebrain.

He hadn't talked much. Just short, one-word answers. He also wasn't taking any of the bait he was throwing him for a fight, or at least an argument. He was totally zoned out. Not paying attention to anything. That would be pretty normal for him, except it didn't normally last this long, or be outside of a boring conversation. He should be overjoyed by not riding a train, taking in all of the sights and enjoying not throwing up. Instead, he is frowning at the ground and obviously deep in thought. That's another thing. He's deep in thought, actually thinking. Sometimes, Gray thought that he was too stupid to think, outside of a fight, that is. When in a fight, Natsu was unchallenged. Something was seriously bothering him. He agreed to let Gray come along without an argument, hadn't said a word, and was very distracted. Gray just hoped that it wouldn't last for the whole trip. If it did, how would they take out the monsters. It would be really dangerous to fight these monsters while distracted.

They got about half of the way there when they decided to stop for the night. They set up camp about 100 yards off the road into the forest. They found a clearing and started to set up camp. Natsu still wasn't talking much.

After dinner they sat in silence for a while. At first Gray had been relieved. He wasn't much of a social person and Natsus normal happy chatter just annoyed him. But then, so did him just not talking to Gray did also, apparently. Because after the relief came irritation. Why was Natsu not talking to him? Was he that angry about Gray coming with him? If so, why didn't he argue more? Or at all?

That was all within the first half-hour. But after that, he started to get worried. Natsu wasn't one to hold grudges. Especially with his family. Something was really wrong.

"Hey Flamebrain, what's wrong?" Gray asked after sitting in silence for ten minutes.

Natsu looked up, startled. "Um, nothing. Just…" he hesitated. "Nothing." He sighed after a minute.

"You haven't spoken to me the past couple hours. What's wrong? I know something's wrong so just tell me!" Gray raised his voice a little. Partly to get the point across that he wasn't taking no for an answer, and partly to get a rise out of his friend.

"I told you it's nothing!" Natsu said, raising his voice in response. Then he seemed to deflate. "I'm going to bed." Natsu then laid out his sleeping bag and flopped down on it. No tent, just sleeping bags.

Gray was even more concerned after that. Natsu seemed tired. Not physically, mentally. Like he had something weighing on him. He sometimes wished that they could talk through more than just their fists. But then, they wouldn't be them, would they?

Gray sighed. Natsu would either talk to him when he was ready, or deal with it before they had to fight the monsters. He knew how dangerous it was to fight distracted. He had no choice but to deal with his issues.

After that thought Gray laid down his own sleeping bag and flopped down. He was tired after all the walking. He didn't fall asleep right away. Thoughts of what could bother Natsu so much kept him awake for a while. But, eventually he fell into a restless sleep.

 _A long time ago, someone in the guild had told him that if something was bothering him, he should wait until Natsu was not paying attention, and then tell him everything. They said it was like talking to a stuffed animal or a dog, you don't get a response but it helps you work through your problems._

 _He had asked them, "Aren't you worried that he will actually be listening?"_

 _Their answer, "Are you kidding? It's Natsu, he doesn't pay attention and he can't remember anything. Besides, if he had been paying attention, our secrets wouldn't be secrets anymore. He would tell someone."_

 _He had been a little irritated that someone would say that about Natsu. Sure, he could be an hot head sometimes but he wouldn't spill their secrets to the world. But he had to agree that he wouldn't be able to focus enough to pay attention to what he was saying. He had the attention span of a gnat._

 _So he had listened to that person. He had waited till they were alone and Natsu was thoroughly lost in his own thoughts before he started to talk. He got everything off his chest. Told him everything from his parents dying to his crush (Yes, he has on.) And he had to admit that he did feel better afterwards. It had helped him sort out his thoughts and made him feel just a bit lighter. Not so many secrets to keep._

Gray woke with a jolt. He was up on his feet and in an Ice-Make stance in less than a second. He wasn't sure what it was that woke him but they were in bandit territory, it couldn't hurt to be too careful. Then he heard it again. It was a groan from Natsu. He was doing more than just snoring tonight, apparently. He normally was in too deep of a sleep to talk or do anything but snore. Not tonight though.

Gray let his stance fall as he slouched to the ground with a sigh and a soft groan. That's what had startled him awake. He was going to punch him awake when it was time to wake up, he decided with an evil grin.

It was already almost dawn, so he didn't think it was worth it to go back to sleep. The adrenaline that had woke him up had chased away any chances of getting back to sleep anyway. He had just got back up to get ready for the day, when Natsu started to talk in his sleep. And his words froze Gray to the bone. He plopped back down on his sleeping bag and sat in shock.

"His town was destroyed. His parents were killed. Ur died. All because of Deliora." Natsu mumbled out, slurring his words a bit. But Gray could hear them loud and clear. "He blames himself for Urs death. He shouldn't. I wish I could tell him he shouldn't. I'm trapped. Trapped!" Natsu had started to toss in his sleep. He had stopped talking and calmed down after a minute.

Gray just sat there. He didn't move even after the sun had risen. Only one thought was going through his head the whole time.

 _He listens._


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. Thanks for the Favs and Follows. I will update as often as possible. this is just an idea I had, everything belongs to the respective owners.**

 **Natsus POV**

Natsu woke up to the sun in his eyes. It was still relatively early but the sun had risen. So, about eight in the morning. He had slept pretty well, actually. The last few nights he'd got almost no sleep. He was feeling pretty good.

Natsu looked over to see if Gray had gotten up yet and nearly jumped out of his skin. Gray looked like he had seen a ghost. He was pale, and just sitting there, staring at Natsu with a horrified expression on his face.

"Gray?" Natsu asked, a little worried. "Are you okay?"

Gray didn't answer. He didn't seem to even hear him. _Well, time for drastic measures._ Natsu thought to himself.

Natsu went over to Gray and punched him in the face. And it worked. Sort of. Gray was knocked over from the unexpected punch. He got back up in a hurry, seeming more angry than horrified now.

"You heard me?" Gray shouted at Natsu.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, very confused about the question and Grays sudden change in attitude.

"You heard me when I talked to you?" He responded, still seeming a little ticked. "When I told you everything." He explained.

Natsu paled. _How did he find out? How does he know that?_ Natsu was freaking out.

"You did." Gray breathed out. He looked completely shocked. Like he didn't know how to handle that his friend knew all of his secrets. "You listened to everything? What I told you? What everyone told you?" He asked.

Natsu didn't answer. He was frozen. He didn't understand, how could he possible find out? He never told anybody… _Oh shit._ He'd talked in his sleep. He had actually talked in his sleep. He never did that. That's not good. What did he say? Whose secrets did he tell last night?

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, trying not to show his panic. It didn't work very well.

"You know exactly what I mean. When people spill their guts to you. You hear everything, don't you?" He responded, disbelieving. "You were spilling secrets in your sleep last night."

"What did you hear?" Natsu asked, giving up on acting dumb. "What did I talk about?" Natsu spoke with a very serious look on his face. "What secrets did you hear?!" Natsu asked, raising his voice when Gray didn't answer right away.

"You were talking about what I told you." Gray said quietly.

"Did you hear anyone else's?" He asked urgently.

"No."

Natsu sighed. At least he didn't spill anyones personal stuff. He would never forgive himself if he did.

"Why do you listen?" Gray asked him. "Why do you let people tell you their most personal and darkest secrets?"

"How can I not listen? You guys just start talking to me. It's not like I ask for you guys to do it." He replied irritably. He'd just figured out that he was talking in his sleep, which he never does. Not just that, but he was spilling peoples secrets too.

"That's not what I meant. Why do you let them? Why not acknowledge their presents and stop them from telling you in the first place?" He answered, getting irritated also.

"It was too late when I thought of that. Everyone was already spilling everything." Natsu said, sitting down on one of the logs in their camp. He sighed. He was going to have to explain everything. Everything was going to come out, and after about two and a half years of keeping this secret, it wasn't going to be easy to tell. Plus he was going to have to tell it without giving many names and no secrets. He sighed again. And again, just for the kicks. His good night sleep was down the drain. He looked at Gray. He looked like he had so many questions. Might as well let him ask him. They were going to have to wait. They still had the mission to deal with.

"Listen, I know you have questions. They have to wait. We have to get to the village soon. They cant wait. Ask while we walk or when we stop tonight. I don't care." Natsu told him as he got up to get ready to leave. Breakfast would be first on the to-do list though. "What do we have for food?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. Sorry for the wait. I got totally slammed with college. Hope you enjoy this new chapter. Everything belongs to the respective authors.**

 **Grays POV 4**

As they got breakfast together, some leftover meat and bread they had brought with them, Gray started to ask questions. He was still very confused about the whole thing.

"What do you mean, it was too late?" He asked.

Natsu looked up with a mouth full of food. "I should have guessed you would start with that, huh?" He said after swallowing. "Don't start with the easy questions, let's just jump in head first with the hard ones." His sarcasm was obvious.

"I am just trying to understand." Gray said honestly. He decided to ignore the invitation to a fight. He could tell that this was what had Natsu so quiet and withdrawn. "Tell me what you meant."

Natsu had just finished his food, so he got up and said, "Let's go. We need to head out if we plan to make it any closer to the village today." Then he sighed. He's been doing that a lot today. "I'll tell you on the way, okay? But we seriously need to go."

Gray finished his food as fast as possible while Natsu packed up camp. Within fifteen minutes they were walking back to the road.

After walking for about five minutes, Natsu still hadn't said anything. Just as he was about to ask again, Natsu slowed down to match Grays pace and started to speak.

"The first time someone spoke to me about anything, it was right after Lisanna had died. No one new how to handle it. Especially Mira and Elfman." He started to say.

"What does any of this have to do with anything?" Gray asked. He didn't understand where the pink haired male was taking this.

"I'm getting to that. Do you want to hear this or not?" Natsu responded with irritation. When Gray nodded, he continued. "No one was handling her death very well, myself included. One day, I was sitting at the bar. It was about a month after Lisannas death and nobody was around. I was sitting at the bar and staring off into space because I had just got off a job, as per the usual. Mira walked up to me and just started talking. I didn't notice right away because I was listening to another conversation, but as soon as I noticed she was talking to me, I was going to turn around. But something was off about her tone. She didn't seem to be talking to me. Her tone almost suggested she was talking to herself, but, the thing was, she was watching me carefully. I listened to what she was saying and she was talking about Lisanna. She was telling stories and little things that were never mentioned before. I wanted to say that I was listening, but I had a feeling that, if I did, she would stop. And I really did not want her to stop." He said the last part with such feeling, that Gray was shocked. He didn't realize that Natsu felt that strongly about her death. He knew that they were close, but he never realized how close.

"Before I realized it," he continued. "she had finished her story and gone back to what she was doing before. I decided not to bring it up unless she mentioned it, because she may not want to talk about it. The next time she talked to me, she was talking in the same tone but she wasn't telling a story about Lisanna. She was telling me other stuff. Stuff that I shouldn't be listening to. But I couldn't not listen. She was right next to me. Dragon Slayer hearing doesn't let you tune out things like that. After I came to that conclusion, I was going to turn and tell her but then a thought came to me. How would she feel about me knowing the stuff she was talking about. So I let her. I let her tell me whatever she wanted. She deserved to have someone to vent to and get things off her chest. She would talk about Lisanna every once in a while, too. I thought it would stop there. I thought she would keep it to herself. Apparently not. She told someone, who told someone, and so on. So pretty soon everyone thought I wasn't listening, so they would tell me their deepest secrets. And I didn't know what to do about it, so I just listened. It helped everyone deal with what was happening, too. I was everyone's therapist." He laughed to himself.

Gray didn't know how to process this. He was doing it because he had wanted to give Mira a place to deal with her grief?

"Well, am still everyone's therapist. I, honestly thought it would change with the seven year skip, but it didn't. It, actually, only made them have more stuff to talk about. So, yeah. That's what happened." Natsu said, done with his story. "Anything else you want to ask?"

"Yeah, have you shared anything that anyone told you?" Gray had to ask. He didn't think Natsu would do something like that but he had to be sure.

Natsu looked both angry and hurt by the question. "Of course not! I would never do that. Do you honestly think I would do that?"

"No, I don't. But I had to be sure." Gray responded. "I have another question. How many people talk to you? Is it everyone in the guild?"

"Not everyone, but about half." Natsu responded.

"What kind of stuff do they tell you?" Gray asked, more than a little curious.

"I'm not going to tell you. It's something I swore to myself that I would never tell to anyone. Even the ones who told me. They talk to me, not to get my opinion, but to say out loud. They seemed to trust me enough that, even if I did hear them, I wouldn't tell anyone. At least that's how I see it."

"Well, not everyone thinks that you would keep their secrets. Some think that you would talk the minute you had an opening."

"I know. I heard. Dragon Slayer hearing." Natsu replied.

"Wait, what did you mean that after the seven years, people had even more to talk about?" Gray suddenly asked, just catching what he said.

"We were gone for seven years. That leaves a lot of time for stuff to build up. Especially what happened to the guild during that time. There was a lot that people needed to get off there chest." Natsu answered, looking a little weary.

Then Gray realized something. "That's why you wanted to go on a quest alone!" Gray exclaimed. "You wanted to get away from everyone that was talking to you." When Natsu didn't answer, Gray continued. "But wait, why would you need t get away? And where's Happy? Why didn't he come along?"

"Happy is staying with Wendy and Carla. He didn't want to come with." Natsu responded, sounding both irritated and glad at the same time. Natsu completely ignored his other questions. "Can you lay off the questions for a while?" Natsu sounded tired. _It must be hard to talk about it after keeping it a secret for so long,_ Gray thought to himself. He decided to let it go for a while and they walked in silence for the rest of the day.


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry. Please forgive me and not hate my story. It's not its fault. I have no legitimate excuse other than me not having motivation to continue this. I have a little now, so I will try to update more.**

Natsu POV

They made it to about ten miles outside the village, when the sun had set and they had to stop. It was mostly for Grays sake, as Natsu could see in the dark pretty well. Besides, they were both tired after the walking. They had only stopped for a half hour lunch. Gray had stopped questioning Natsu, but he could tell that he had a lot more questions to ask.

After Gray had dragged two logs over and Natsu had got some wood and started the fire, they sat down and ate the food that they had bought in a town that they had gone through earlier in the day. Then they both sat staring at the fire.

"Well? I know you have more questions. Go ahead." He said tiredly. He really was having trouble with this crap. _Dang it._

"What happened to make you want to get away from everyone? Why did you take a mission alone?" Gray asked, barely pausing before he asked them.

"You seriously don't have any questions besides those?" Natsu asked Gray, not wanting to answer those questions. He didn't know how to. How could he explain that what people were telling him was completely overwhelming him?

"Not right now, no. So?" Gray responded, not giving an inch.

Natsu sighed. How could he explain it? What should he tell him? How much could he say?

"Are you going to answer, or are you going to ignore me like earlier?" Gray asked impatiently.

"Just give me a minute. I need to think." Natsu answered angrily. Then he sighed again. he really was doing that too often these days. "I was overwhelmed." Natsu said honestly.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, confused.

"Everyone was telling me stuff that I couldn't handle. Stuff about Fairy Tail after we disappeared. How they felt, what they went through. Then there was what the people from Tenrou Island, and what they are going through. It was all too much _. Is_ all too much. I can't handle what people are telling me, right now. That's why I chose this mission. To get away." Natsu said, looking away. he was embarrassed. "I felt like I was going to go crazy, so I decided to take a solo mission to try and deal with my issues."

"So, people tell you their issues and you can't deal, so you go on a dangerous mission, while distracted, to get your mind off of it?" At Natsus nod, he asked. "Why did you let me come, then?"

"What excuse would I have to not have you come? What could I tell them? 'I have listened to all of your guys' secrets and I'm not handling it well, so I am going on a solo mission so I don't have a mental breakdown?' is that what I should say? Or perhaps I could just not give an explanation and have Mira worry and piss off Erza. That might work." Natsu was getting angry. He had just wanted some peace to deal with his thoughts, but now he was practically being interrogated.

"Alright, I get it. You're in a tough situation. I'm just trying to understand." Gray said.

"I know." Natsu sighed. "I am just really overwhelmed. The things I heard in the past month have not been pleasant and I don't know what to do with it. All I know is that I am not going to share them. So don't even ask." Natsu said with a glare.

"I wasn't going to." Gray said. "I mean, I'm not going to _now_." Gray said with a slightly guilty look.

"Good." Natsu smiled, perhaps for the first time since they left Magnolia. Natsu groaned. "I don't know what to do. Do you know what I should do? 'Cause I don't know. I can't tell them. They wouldn't trust me. They would think I'm going to tell other people. They would be scared I would judge them or hold what they told me against them. But I wouldn't tell and I would never judge them or hold it against them. They are family. But I also can't handle them talking to me anymore. It's too much. When they tell me what happened while we were gone, I get so angry that they had to go through that. And when they tell me how they felt when we disappeared, I get so sad. And with the stuff I already felt after what happened, I just can't take it. It makes me want to scream. And then, as if that's not bad enough, I hear something that someone did that hurt one of them recently, and I can't do anything about it, because I'm not supposed to know that. I don't know how I am supposed to be dealing with this and it is really getting to me. And now, here I am talking to you of all people, about stuff I've never told anyone and practically spilling out everything I have felt in the past month. And I'm asking you for advice. For all I know, you could be laughing at me." Natsu said, head in his hands. He was so embarrassed and anxious. He was a little scared too. He wasn't sure what Gray was going to do, how he was going to react. He was worried about him telling everyone. He didn't want to lose the trust of his guild, his family.

"I'm not going to laugh at you, Natsu." Gray said.

"Well you could tell them, too. That would be so much worse. I can't…" He broke off. He was losing it. He kept his head in his hands as he felt his eyes tear up. He didn't want to lose his family, but he couldn't deal with this.

"I'm not going to tell them Natsu." Gray said, sounding exasperated.

Natsus head shot up. "You're not?" He asked hopefully. It was too much to hope for. Gray had every right to tell everyone. He didn't have a reason not to. Natsu put his head back in his hands. "Why wouldn't you? You have every right to."

Gray sighed. "I know what everyone means to you. I wouldn't do that to you." Gray looked at him. "Why would I do that to one of my best friends?" Gray said. He looked down and mumbled that last part.

He may have said it quietly but Natsu heard it. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He, in front of Gray of all people, started to sob. He couldn't hold it in anymore. His family had been hurt beyond belief, Gray had found out, he thought it was over. He thought he would tell everyone. He might have even had to leave if no one trusted him. But Gray had just told him that he wasn't going to tell. He didn't have to worry. He wasn't as trapped as he thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi! Here with another chapter. I'm here within a reasonable amount of time! Yay! It might be a while before I update, but it won't be as long a wait as last time.

 **Gray POV 6**

Gray was shocked to say the least. Natsu was sobbing right in front of him and he didn't know what to do. He wasn't good in these situations. He didn't know what was expected of him, so he just sat there quietly.

He hadn't realized just how bad Natsu had been feeling. He didn't realize that Natsu was at his breaking point. Gray didn't want him to feel that he was alone. He knew what that felt like, and it wasn't fun. He decided, in that moment, to help him in any way he could. If he needed someone to talk to, he would be there.

Gray had thought about going back and telling the others, but then he realized what that would do to Flamebrain and decided against it. Natsu wouldn't know what to do if the guild couldn't trust him or kicked him out. The guild was his family, possibly his whole world.

"Uhh, Flamebrain?" Gray asked a bit hesitantly, as Natsu slowly stopped crying. "You okay?"

Natsu sniffled and nodded. "Sorry." He said, looking very embarrassed. "That was not supposed to happen. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Guess you weren't kidding about the mental breakdown, huh?" Gray said, trying to lighten the mood. He tried a small laugh but it sounded forced.

Natsu let a teary chuckle out. "Nope, I guess I wasn't. Sorry about that. That's kind of why I wanted to come alone. No humiliation like that." He laughed at that. It wasn't his normal laugh though. It was an embarrassed laugh that said that he wasn't comfortable with Gray seeing him like this. And he understood that. They were rivals. They fought, not shared their feelings.

Gray sighed. "You don't have to apologize, Natsu. I get it. You are overwhelmed and are having trouble dealing with this." He took a deep breath and asked a question that would either make Natsu he had lost it or that he was mocking him, even if he was completely serious. "How can I help you deal with this?" There, he said it. He held his breath as he waited for his response.

Natsu looked at him like he'd grown horns and a tail. "What?" He said in disbelief.

He sighed. "What can I do to help you deal with this? What do you need from me? You are part of our team and I can't have you lose your mind on my watch." He said with a grin. Then he got serious. "I'm not kidding and I'm completely sane. I want to help you. It's not right for you to have to deal with this on your own. How could you have known it would go this far? What can I do? Listen? Fight you?" He was kind of hoping for the latter.

"I don't know. I wasn't expecting this." He looked confused, like he didn't understand why he wanted to help. Gray had just explained it though.

"I have a question." When Natsu nodded he went on. "Do you remember everything?" Again, Natsu nodded. "How? I thought you were a forgetful idiot." Natsu just grinned at that. He wasn't as talkative as he normally was. "You just wanted everyone to think that, didn't you?" He asked. "Wow. That's, actually really smart." He said, completely floored at the idea that Natsu came up with something smart by himself.

"I know right?" Natsu said with a grin. "No one would suspect a forgetful idiot to remember anything, even if he hears something." His smile fell just a little. "But, yes, I do remember everything. At least, most of it."

"Have you ever had to stop someone from telling you stuff because it was too embarrassing to hear?" Gray asked with a grin of his own.

Natsu blushed fiercely. "Yes, I have. Girls have a bad habit of saying too much." Natsu grumbled.

Gray laughed. "How'd you get out of it?"

"Really, I just have to turn my head and say 'Were you saying something?' and they will just stop talking and walk away blushing." Natsu was grinning again at that. "Do you have any more questions before we sleep? Because we need to get to the village tomorrow and talk to the client." Natsu said.

"Not right now. I think I took in all the information I can take at the moment." Gray said with a smile.

Natsu just chuckled and laid down to sleep.

The next day they made it to the village a little before lunch time. They woke up early and hadn't wasted any time on talking. They just ate breakfast and left. They wanted to meet with the client before they ate lunch so they could go after the monster right after lunch.

Their client was the mayor of the village. His name was Glen Clive, and he was a tall, slender, and soft-spoken man. Not your typical mayor. Gray didn't know that mayors could be anything but short and fat honestly. He seemed kind and to genuinely want the monster gone.

Mayor Clive told them that the monster came from the mountain to the west of the village. He said that it was going after the livestock on the outskirts of town normally. But just the other day, it attacked a man that was working in the fields. The man survived but he was seriously injured. It seemed to attack every 3 days.

"When was the last attack?" Natsu asked the mayor.

"Two days ago." The mayor said sadly. "That was when the villager was attacked."

Gray and Natsu shared a look. It would attack soon. Tomorrow, if their timing was right.

"We'll take care of it." Gray said.

The fight went about how you'd expect. There were at least six houses, two fields and lots and lots of trees destroyed. They lost half of the reward, but the beast was gone. The village was grateful, too. No matter how much damage they did in that short amount of time, it could be replaced. The lives of the villagers could not.

Now they were on their way back to Fairy Tail and Gray wasn't sure what to do. He wouldn't tell anyone about Natsu's secret, but Natsu was still tense. It was like he didn't understand that Gray wouldn't tell the guild about it. He was helping them, in a weird way. Natsu wasn't talking as much as he usually did, again.

 _What can I do to convince him that I won't tell them? That everything is going to be fine?_


	7. Chapter 7

As they were walking back to Magnolia on the second day, Natsu was quiet again. He was fidgeting with his fingers and he looked really nervous.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Gray asked, stopping and facing him. Natsu just nodded and kept walking. "Seriously, we're doing this, again? Are you serious?!"

Natsu stopped and turned. "What are you talking about? Do what?" He looked really confused.

"The silent treatment thing again!" Gray yelled. "You got quiet again, like when we first started this mission. So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…" He sighs.


	8. Chapter 8

Natsu was freaking out. He had no clue what to do when he got back. He knew that Gray said he wouldn't say anything to anyone, but he was struggling to believe that. It's not that he doubts Grays word… God, he's a mess. And he isn't sure what he is going to do about everyone telling him their stories and secrets. He doesn't thing he can handle any more. Even with this little break.

"I just don't know what to do." He said.

"About what?" Gray asked, looking confused.

"About the people telling me stuff. How do I handle it? How am I going to not have a mental breakdown every day?" Natsu grabbed his hair in frustration. "I can't just stop listening. Me listening helps them work through their problems." He was gasping now, on the verge of a panic attack.

"Let me just stop you there. You are not required to listen to them. It is their problem, not yours. If you need to stop for your mental health, then stop. It is not your responsibility." Gray said earnestly. "But, if you decide to keep listening to everyone, I can go on jobs with you, so you can get away. And I am willing to fight you whenever you need to let off some steam." He said this with a huge grin.

What he said helped. He wasn't alone. He had a way to get out if he needed to. And he had someone who knew his biggest secret, as well. "Thank you Gray. That means a lot."

"No problem." He was smiling.

Maybe he wasn't so trapped after all.


End file.
